Diana Stakes (Grade 1)

SCROLLING through racing social media posts on Saturday, this randomly appeared on my timeline from an American racing contributor.

Today, I’m saying that Flavien Prat is the best I’ve ever seen. The best riders ever had weaknesses. Prat’s game is flawless.

I watched the best colony ever when growing up. Stevens (speed - turf), Pincay (strong), Eddie D. (deep closers and underrated on the lead), Kent (scary talent), P. Val (aggressive, speed), Toro, McCarron (rhythmic, smart, great left hand), the Shoe (smart, rhythmic & a great partner) and others. I watched others on the east coast from a distance... They were also great, but the colonies were not as deep.

Prat is Stevens on the lead. Toro on the turf. He’s stronger than people realize, and his intellect on what is going to happen before it happens is like nothing I’ve witnessed.

He’s completely ambidextrous, rhythmic, always has partners do what he asks (a jockey whisperer of sorts), and he does it all with class, rarely getting involved in herding/bumping incidents that put other horses and riders at risk.

I’m pretty sure I’ve watched over 1M races in my life and IMHO, he’s the best to leg up.

Benny_Southstreet@BSouthstreet

Agree or disagree, on Saturday at Saratoga, Prat gave an exhibition of total control as Juddmonte’s Whitebeam gave Chad Brown a ninth victory in the nine furlong Grade 1 Diana Stakes, a turf test for fillies and mares.

Despite winning this race last season, the daughter of Caravaggio went off third favourite having been beaten in her four subsequent outings, including by second favourite Chilli Flag in the Grade 1 Just A Game here in June.

Didia, winner of the Grade 1 New York Stakes at Saratoga in June was sent off favourite in a strong field of 10 females.

Grabbed lead

Whitebeam and Flavien Prat grabbed the lead from the start, covering the opening half-mile in 49.49secs while leading by a length. When Whitebeam covered six furlongs in a comfortable 1m13.76secs, Prat was in control.

As favourite Didia made her effort, Whitebeam went the next quarter-mile in a blazing 22.94sec and opened a length and a half lead in midstretch. Didia’s run petered out and it was Peter Brant’s Gina Romantica and Canadian mare Moira who cut into the lead but the five-year-old Whitebeam had too much left. Moira, the 2022 Queen’s Plate Stakes winner, took second by a nose over Gina Romantica.

The home-bred by Caravaggio out of an Oasis Dream mare, covered the nine furlongs in 1m48.14secs for back-to-back wins in the race. Chad Brown ran five in the race, including Coppice, who was fifth under Frankie Dettori.

“There was a lack of pace on paper and plan was to go out there and just try to control the race and see if she was good enough to hold on,” Brown said afterwards.

Brown’s first Grade 1 win came when Zagora took the 2011 Diana. “It means a lot to me. It means a lot to my team,” he was quoted by BloodHorse. “There’s a very short list of races when I left [Bobby] Frankel that it was just instilled in me that he held in high regard. The Diana was way up on that list. For him to hold it in high regard, it must have meant something.”

Mystery makes a Quick Call

GODOLPHIN and Charlie Appleby enjoyed another win in the Grade 3 Quick Call Stakes over five and a half furlongs when the Kodiac filly Star Of Mystery justified favouritism.

No match for the flying Cogburn in the Grade 1 Jaipur here in June, this was a much easier task and Flavien Prat produced her on the outside in the final furlong and a half and she came clear of Mansa Musa to win by a length and a half.

The November 2nd Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at five furlongs at Del Mar, would seem a likely target as jockey Flavien Prat said a distance between five and six furlongs suits the three-year-old filly.

Also on the Saratoga Saturday card, Chad Brown’s talented son of Lope De Vega, Carl Spackler, got back to winning ways in the mile Grade 3 Kelso Stakes on the turf.